Lavender Legend: Secrets of Avalor
by AquaTurquoise
Summary: *Carried over from "Princess2Princess," "Shaken," and "Shadow"* Sofia wants to know more about the amulet that gives her powers but also causes her some sleep deprivation, so she and Cedric attempt to take a look into the history of the jewel by which everyone seems to be fascinated. (Warning: There will be a LOT of unresolved issues in this story for now. It's intentional! :D)


Lavender Legend: Secrets of Avalor

Summary: *Carried over from "Princess2Princess," "Shaken," and "Shadow"* Sofia wants to know more about the amulet that gives her powers but also causes her some sleep deprivation, so she and Cedric attempt to take a look into the history of the jewel by which everyone seems to be fascinated.

Disclaimer: I don't own "Sofia the First!"

A/N: This is the first in a two-part story. This part is going to be much shorter, and it will have Sofia and Cedric beginning to explore the mysteries of the amulet (if they can), along with the possibilities of their nightmares. The second part, "Obscure," deals with an entity that has used various outlets to get to not only Sofia but also Cedric— _especially_ Cedric. There was the question of 'why Cedric,' and you'll find out in "Obscure!" ;) Enjoy.

This was it. It had waited long enough. With Cedric's recent nightmares and alternative personality, and Sofia's bad dreams and uncertainty, something had to be done. She had to know what was really going on, and she had to know _now_.

Sofia pushed her blankets away. She slid to the floor and put on her slippers before grabbing a robe to put over her nightgown. She adjusted her amulet before looking at it curiously. It was glowing very dimly right now, and she looked around quickly.

No princesses. No magic. Just…glowing. She sighed and let her amulet rest around her neck once more before moving over in front of her bed. She knelt before her chest and opened it, pulling out a curious purple book.

-Six Months Ago-

The second princess of Enchancia blinked as she accepted the book (from Belle) and gazed at the title. _Lavender Legend: Secrets of Avalor_. "W-Wait a minute… How…?" She paused, closing her eyes and inhaling. "Belle, if I look up, you won't be gone in that magical 'poof' again, will you?"

"Well, I guess you'd have to open your eyes to find out," Belle teased, laughing when Sofia glanced at her and sighed in relief.

"What is this?" She traced her fingers over the red lettering on the purple-colored book.

"The best way to find out is to read it," the French girl stated with a gentle tone. "Some of the best stories are the ones very few know about. Plus, this may give you the answers you're looking for."

Sofia nodded and held the book closely, hardly believing that such a thing actually existed. It must have been a coincidence, right? There's no way that there was a book that answered _all_ of her questions and concerns about the amulet. Or was there…?

-Current Day-

"I need some answers," she whispered, as if talking to the book. "I just don't know how to get them." She glanced toward her window bed, where Clover lay sleeping with a stuffed carrot she'd made him, and she smiled. "I'll be back later, Clover." She then slipped out of the room as quietly as she could.

The castle was quiet—too quiet for the princess's liking. It gave her chills to think that the stillness could be so intimidating. Usually she was deep into her dreams by this point, and she never really had to deal with the reality of the nothingness. She almost wished _somebody_ could be up, even cleaning or something. Alas, everyone else seemed to be fast asleep by now.

Sofia looked at the entrance to the tower that held Cedric's workshop and sighed. They'd seen quite a bit of each other recently, and with good reason. He'd needed her help on a great many things, and she'd needed his in return. Now it seemed that he desperately needed some assistance, even if he wasn't completely willing to admit it.

Recently, he'd suffered from some sort of shadow…Shadow Cedric, he'd called himself. That is to say, a darker persona had overtaken her mentor and had completely altered his typical demeanor. While there had been no signs of "Shadow Cedric" in the last few weeks, the girl still worried that he could return. Since Cedric had been so susceptible before, what was stopping that from happening now?

The princess inhaled and exhaled calmly before pushing forward, the book clutched to her chest, as she ascended the stairs to her friend's workshop.

"Wormy, stop snoring," Cedric complained as he nudged his sleeping raven on his perch. He sighed when the bird ceased his noises and fell into a silent sleep once more. "For Merlin's sake, you make more noise than a rainstorm." He glanced up from his now-empty beaker and blinked when a knock fell upon his door. 'This can't be happening,' he thought tiredly while rubbing his eyes. 'It's got to be after midnight…' Yawning he called, "Come in."

Sofia walked in hesitantly, having heard the clear exhaustion in her friend's voice. "Mr. Cedric?"

"Sofia, weren't you supposed to be asleep by now? Dear girl, you have school tomorrow, don't you?"

She shook her head. "Tomorrow is Saturday, Mr. Cedric…or today is, I guess I should say." She walked inside and shut the door behind her.

"Oh, right. My days tend to blend together sometimes." He chuckled before catching a glimpse of the book in her arms. "What do you have there?"

Sofia looked down at the purple book before glancing up at him. " _Lavender Legend_ …"

His eyes narrowed in concentration. "… _Secrets of Avalor_?" he continued.

-Six Months Ago-

The day with the visiting princesses came to an end, and the six younger girls bid farewell to their mentors for now. Surely they would return some time soon, perhaps before the end of the year.

That night, Sofia hurried up to Cedric's tower with the book Belle had found nestled in her arms. She clung to the book as if it were a lifeline. Approaching his door, she pushed it open urgently, meeting Cedric's startled glance.

"Sofia?" he asked in concern as the young princess walked up to him. "What's wrong?"

Without saying a word, she glanced at the book before holding it up to him to take.

Cedric's mouth dropped upon reading the title. " _Lavender Legend: Secrets of Avalor_ …" He looked down at his apprentice. "Where did you find this?"

"At the library at school." She clasped her amulet uncertainly as she waited for her friend to maybe explain the existence of the book, if he even knew. "Mr. Cedric, what does this mean?"

As the sorcerer flipped through the pages, his eyes resting on the identical drawing of Sofia's amulet on one of them, he sighed and turned back to her. "I don't know… But there's one way to find out."

Sofia tilted her head as he held one hand out to her. Releasing her amulet and taking a small breath, she grasped her mentor's hand.

"Come with me."

-Current Day-

"We never did get to do much with this book," she reminded him with a sigh. "It's no wonder, with everything that's gone on since then."

"From what I recall, we read only a few pages of the book, somewhere near the middle I believe, with the intention of continuing and actually going more in depth with our research at some point—and we never did, of course." He placed the book on his table and waited as Sofia took her usual chair and sat nearby him so she could see the book. "So the real question seems to be… 'What now?'"

"Maybe we should try again," she suggested with a shrug. "Honestly, I think we know a bit more now than we used to, and maybe this will give us some answers. It may explain why I have those bad dreams sometimes—though the dream catcher did help… And maybe it would explain _your_ nightmares, Mr. Cedric."

"Why would a book about _your_ amulet explain _my_ nightmares?" he asked dubiously. "It doesn't make any sense."

"I don't know," she said honestly as she traced the jewel around her neck. "But I just know they're connected somehow… I feel it."

Cedric sighed, nodding. "All right then. Let's see what we can find." He touched the cover of the book, hesitating momentarily. What if…? What if the book had the _real_ secret to Avalor? What if he found a new method for conquering the kingdom? He growled inwardly, shoving the thought aside. He needed to focus.

"Mr. Cedric?" The young girl eyed her mentor carefully, waiting on his next move.

"I know, Sofia." He opened the book, turning it to the very first page. "So let's see here…"

 _Lavender Legend: Secrets of Avalor_

 _If you are reading this, then you have discovered something not many know about. Avalor is not merely the name of a jewel, but also the name of a kingdom many have forgotten. Magic and mystery made up this kingdom, very much like the jewel based upon its glory._

Sofia gasped and held her amulet. "It's talking about my amulet, right?"

"Unless you know of another 'jewel of Avalor,' I'd say so," Cedric responded distractedly as he continued reading.

 _What many fail to mention is the truth behind the kingdom and the amulet. Something horrible occurred and affected the manner of the amulet today. As one might say, 'Things are not always as they appear.' And thus begins the truth behind the Amulet of Avalor._

 _Once there was a princess named—_

Cedric turned the page and blinked with wide eyes. "It's…"

Sofia frowned. "Where's the rest of it?" She seemed perplexed as she took the book and flipped a few pages, realizing something horrible. "The pages—they're all blank!"

The sorcerer stared at the pages in disbelief. "Even the ones we've already read before?!" He moved to the middle of the book, where he _knew_ he'd been before, and discovered that they were also empty. How was that even possible?

Wormwood, having woken up a few minutes ago due to their discussion, flew over from his perch and settled onto Cedric's shoulder as he too gazed in wonder and disappointment at the seemingly blank book.

"Well, that's just fantastic." Cedric folded his arms. "I'm glad we've waited six more months for this _grandiose_ revelation."

"Why are _you_ so upset?" Sofia looked up at her friend, confused. "Shouldn't _I_ be the disappointed one in this case?"

He blinked and laughed sheepishly. "Oh, r-right. Yes. Of course! I mean, it's terrible that _you_ had to wait so long and find out…how disappointing this news truly is."

The girl frowned. "Mr. Cedric, are you okay? You're acting funny."

'Keep it together, Cedric,' he scolded himself mentally as he outwardly calmed down. 'She mustn't know about…all of _that_ …' "I'm fine, Sofia, just tired…"

She stared at him uncertainly for a few moments before giggling. "You're always tired." She sighed and placed her elbows on the table with her head resting in her hands. "I guess we'll never find out what we need to know about the amulet and your nightmares and my dreams…"

Her words brought Cedric back into reality as he pondered on something. "Maybe…we're not looking in the right place."

The princess blinked up at him.

"Maybe this book wasn't supposed to be the actual link we need to determine our dilemmas. Maybe it's something else."

"Like what?"

He shrugged before flipping through the pages again, still finding that the rest of the pages were blank. "I don't know. There's got to be something we're missing."

Wormwood yawned. "It would be pathetically funny if the pages weren't actually _blank_ , but enchanted with some sort of spell," he drawled, sarcasm dripping out of his beak.

Sofia gasped, turning to the raven in surprise. "That's it!"

"What's it?" Cedric asked curiously, not sure where her random outburst had come from.

"Mr. Cedric, what if the book is enchanted or something?"

Wormwood frowned. "Stealing my ideas, Princess? I'm surprised at you." He smirked when she shot him a pointed look.

Cedric took a moment to consider her inquiry and smiled widely. "It could be! Yes! I don't see why not…" He ran his hands over the pages and frowned. "But we'd have to find the right spell to undo this enchantment—if there even is one. And who knows? Perhaps the book truly _is_ the key to everything, but we need to fix it." He glanced toward Sofia. "Are you in?"

She grinned. "You can count on me!"

Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location, an ominous pale hand stilled its movements, forming into a fist.

"Argh!" A blonde woman with fierce blue eyes—or were they green?—growled in anger as she raked her neatly manicured fingernails down the glass orb into which she'd been gazing. "What nuisances these two have become," she sneered, her eyes fixated on the sorcerer and his apprentice. "Payó!"

An awkward brown-haired man with a red and black suit stumbled before the woman and held a hand to his chest, bowing timidly. "Y-Yes, My Lady?"

She glared daggers at him before her red lips curved upward into a sinister smile. "I have a job for you…"

The end (and to be continued in "Obscure")

A/N: Why are the pages blank? Why didn't they _actually_ finish reading the book six months ago? Is Shadow Cedric coming back? Who were those people at the end?! If you have a lot of questions, GOOD! :) They'll all be answered in "Obscure," the last in this little series. So here's the order we've had: "Shaken," "Shadow," "Lavender Legend: Secrets of Avalor," and "Obscure." Just in case you randomly read this story and have no idea what's going on… Lol ;) All loose ends will be tied up in the next story, _and_ you'll find out just who these two mysterious people at the end are. Brace yourself, though. "Obscure" is not only going to be longer, but it's also going to get rather dark. I know CedricAmber is cheering excitedly by now… :p Anyway, the last installment will take some time, because I want it to be perfect, so in the meantime I'll have a few little surprise stories posted every now and then. :D Hope you enjoyed this one. Till next time! ~AquaTurquoise


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